


A scream

by Crystalized_Flowers



Series: The Ways We've Said "I Love You." [3]
Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, M/M, Oops, Prompt #3, Supposed to be short turned very long, rushed ending because 2 in the morning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-16 03:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11245368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crystalized_Flowers/pseuds/Crystalized_Flowers
Summary: Ai, the prince of Magica, a country dominated by magical creatures, is suddenly forced into the world of humans when a civil war begins. Ranmaru, a human prince, takes an interest in the strange shapeshifter that visits his country.





	A scream

**Author's Note:**

> Part of a prompt series, check out the series to understand context.
> 
> Ages:  
> Syo - 5  
> Ai - 16  
> Ranmaru - 23  
> Aine & Reiji - 36

The longer Ai stayed in this country, the more interested in it he became. It was a strange place, full of  _humans_. 

It was a country very different from his own. Magica had shunned humans with a passion, looking down upon these beings with no special power whatsoever. His father never did though. As a result, though his father was a well liked man, resentment against him soon grew. This led to the eventual murder of the emperor of the last magical country, a former haven for magical creatures.

Of course, a civil war erupted immediately. Once the emperor's death reached the citizens' ears, they were all prepared to struggle to reach the throne. It didn't matter to them that there was a sixteen year old prince in line for the throne through succession.

His great uncle was prepared for such an outcome. A caring man full of wit and the one who had acted as regent as his father grew up. To prevent the complete extermination of the Kisaragi line, he sent Ai away to another country as he fought tooth and nail to secure the throne for the young prince.

This led to Ai's current situation. He had been sent rather far away from the country of magic, due to the fact that his great uncle wished for no one to find out where the prince had disappeared to. Though Ai had little knowledge of the human countries in the world, his great uncle had assured him that this one was the most tolerant of magical creatures. He mentioned that his father had friends in the country, and though he could say no more, encouraged Ai to seek them out. And as long as Ai remained in his human form and did his best to blend in with human culture, he should be safe.

He wore a hood just in case, because even though Ai was trained to be able to humanize, there would always be signs of him being inhuman, something that every shapeshifter had to deal with. The magicians in his country had it lucky; they already seemed human enough if they could keep their magic under control, while shapeshifters like the royal family were forced to concentrate on retaining a human form.

Self-conscious of his appearance, Ai reaches into his hood, brushing the lilac feathers tucked behind his ear and arranging his cyan hair to cover it more just in case his hood blew off or some unexpected situation like that occurred. He curses his lilac feathers for being such a stark contrast against his hair, but there was nothing he could do about it. His human form's hair had been inherited from his father's identical cyan hair, but his creature form's coloring had been passed down by neither his father or his mother.

He walks down the street, imitating the other humans hurrying through the street of stalls and markets. He hopes that he does not seem too suspicious with a hood pulled over his hair. Few humans had the strange hair coloring he did, and standing out was the last thing he wanted.

"Hey, young man! Yes, you over there!" A man at a relatively quiet stall tucked among the others calls loudly, waving in his direction. Ai glances around, and when he sees that no one else is responding to the man's call, approaches him warily.

The man beams widely as Ai comes over. "You've got a good eye, laddie! You seem like the type of person to be interested in magical creatures! Have you heard of shapeshifters?"

"I've... heard of them." Ai replies slowly, scanning the man's goods. Colored pelts, feathers, even some fur coats. They all seem to be high quality goods, but none of them had sold. Ai was thankful that they hadn't. All of the poor animals that must have been slaughtered in the making of these goods.

The man grins, handing a glittering fur coat to Ai. "Like what you see? Now, these aren't regular fur coats, laddie! No one's buying them because all of us humans look down on those with magic, like the shapeshifters. They're all like animals hell bent on murder! But I say, don't let prejudice make you overlook some fine goods, yeah?"

A cold feeling is starting to settle in Ai. The man chatters on about how prejudice was really harming to business, especially to many high quality goods. He had not outright said what the goods were made from, but from his words, Ai can easily guess.

Ai raises his gaze to stare at a material hanging in the back of the stall, made of beautiful green-blue scales, similar to the shade of his late father's when he took his form as a hydra. He could only hope that it wasn't true.

"See that coat you're holding? A fine young silver fox shapeshifter! She was one of the greatest catches my buddies had this year! She didn't live in the magical country, but in the woods a few towns over. She was around - I guess your age, laddie - and she had the prettiest sparkling silver fur. It took a lot for them to force her to stay in fox form, but they managed!"

He stares at the coat in his hands, the screams of a silver fox shapeshifter ringing in his ears. He grips the coat tightly, his hands starting to shake.

"So how 'bout it, laddie? I sell for pretty cheap-"

Ai sees red. He isn't a violent person, and generally very calm. But the amount of his species that had been slaughtered to produce mere  _accessories_ for these  _humans_. A country tolerate of magical beings? Pfft, what a joke. It sent him over the edge.

The lilac feathers near his ears begin to bristle underneath his hood, more of his hair morphing into feathers. He flexed his feet, feeling the avian claws poke through his shoes. The bone structure of his arms begin to change, making way for wings-

Just as he was ready to launch himself at the unsuspecting man, who is unaware of his transformation under his cloak, he feels a strong grip on his shoulder and the angered, furious voice of another man. "You, again. Why are you here?! We have warned you multiple times: our country bans goods created from taking the lives of shapeshifters or other magical beings!"

Ai had paused in mid-transformation, reverting back into his human form in shock, his anger dying down into fear when he had thought that the man had grabbed him due to the fact that his identity had been exposed. But the new man seemed to be talking to the seller of the shapeshifter goods, whose face is now pale in fright. "P-Prince Ranmaru..."

"Scram!"

The seller heeds these words, running for his life as he leaves his goods behind. Ranmaru releases his hold on Ai's shoulder, sheathing his sword once more with a "tch" of anger. Ai turns around, blinking, getting a better view of his savior. The human prince is a bit older and taller than him, with spiky silver hair. His eyes are narrowed in anger and his facial features are sharp. His one violet eye gives off a feeling of intimidation, which is intensified by his outfit, which practically radiates status. Ai raises an eyebrow at seeing it. Is this how humans identify their royals? In his country, despite being the royal family, his family had tried to blend in amongst the other citizens. His father used to say that magical beings could not have a definite hierarchy, due to the fact that they were such a small amount that any internal fighting would completely break them.

Ranmaru turns towards him as well, meeting the young shapeshifter's gaze under the hood that he dons. "Sheesh, are you stupid? What are you thinking? I can't blame you for wanting to deck him, but we can't have random fights on the market streets everywhere!"

Ai is taken by surprise from his condescending tone. "Sorry," he says, deeming it the normal human response in this situation. Ranmaru stares at him, seemingly for such a monotone reply and his attitude in front of him. Oh, is he supposed to act politer to the human _prince_?

But Ranmaru simply lets out a small smirk. "How interesting." _His tone does seem to hold some annoyance for being disrespected though_ , Ai notes. "What's your name?"

Ai uses the first name he can think of on spot, hoping that the pause is not long enough to be suspicious. He can't tell the human prince that he's Kisaragi Ai after all. He doesn't know how knowledgable the prince is about the magical country, but it's better to be safe than sorry. "Mikaze Ai."

"Ai, huh? Are you new to this country?" Ranmaru starts walking away, and Ai takes that as his signal to follow.

"Yes."

"Where're you from?"

Ai narrows his eyes underneath his hood. "A small town, one that I'm sure your Highness wouldn't know of," he replies, managing to remain perfectly polite now as his anger from before dissolved and he can now pull knowledge from his studying of humans.

He waits for Ranmaru to press him, but the human seems to take that as a suitable answer. They walk in silence for a while, and Ai takes this as his chance to leave the human's presence. "If you would excuse me-"

"You're not human, are you?" The prince's voice is serious, harsh.

Ai freezes, not expecting the question. He had thought that he had done an excellent job at hiding his identity. "I-I am."

"Really?" Ranmaru's voice is oddly calm despite its gruffness and lurking hostility. "I found it strange that some random kid would be picking a fight with that guy, even though most dislike him, people aren't overly defensive of shapeshifters. Adding to the fact that when I grabbed your shoulder, I felt feathers instead of human skin for a moment and that you won't take the hood of your head, it's kinda hard to believe that you're human."

Ai takes a few steps back, ready to flee. His eyes dart from side to side, examining the best way to escape without attracting the attention of more humans nearby. However, he has just backed himself off the street and into an alleyway, where he was vulnerable of the human prince's piercing gaze. Ai seems outwardly calm, but he panics inside. Is there no way that he can escape without shifting?

He steps back again, this time colliding with another person. He glances over his shoulder, seeing a little boy looking up at him indignantly, hopping on one foot. "Oi, you!" The boy shouts, surprising Ai. This catches the attention of the other children in the alleyway, who had all been crowded around something. As they look up at who their companion was shouting at, Ai catches a glimpse of what they had been crowding around. It makes his blood boil.

A young shapeshifter lies on the ground, whimpering. He seems to not be able to control his human form very well, battered white cat ears sticking out of the top of his head. His blond hair is dirtied and all of his visible skin is covered in blood and bruises, his tail bent at a strange angle. He can't be older than five or six, younger than the children that had been attacking him.

Ai controls himself, refusing to attack children, humans or not. His father had taught him better. He forgets about his own situation and the human prince behind him, turning his attention to the children. "How could you do such a thing to him?" He hisses at the human children, his normal monotone voice is full of anger. Not realizing that he's a shapeshifter himself, they are taken aback.

"He's a monster!" One of the little girls reply defensively. "He shouldn't play with us! He's dangerous!"

"He's a  _kitten_." Ai emphasizes, pushing through the children to gently pick up the small shapeshifter. "What can he do to hurt you? You can't generalize all shapeshifters as monsters. You're the ones being the monsters here."

"He's a monster!" The boy that he had bumped into steps forward aggressively. "We have to fight them to protect ourselves!"

Ai is normally sensible, but he feels all of his sense leave him. The children step back in fear as his aura turns from angry to outright dangerous. In a moment of impulse, Ai pushes back his hood, revealing the lilac feathers that are mixed in with his cyan hair and his sharpened inhuman, avian eyes.

"I'm a monster." His gaze is ice cold. "Would you like to protect yourselves from me?"

The girls scream.

"That's enough."

Ranmaru makes them aware of his presence and the children gaze in shock at their prince, some scrambling towards him to get as far away from Ai as possible. He glances down at them. "Shapeshifter or not, you can't hurt others for no reason if they don't hurt you. If so, you're in the wrong, no matter what. Do you understand?"

They all nod in varied degrees of agreement and Ranmaru shoos them out of the alleyway. Once the last of the children have gone to run home to the safety of their families, Ranmaru glances back at Ai.

Ai raises his gaze from inspecting the young shapeshifter's wounds to meet Ranmaru's gaze. Ai can't read Ranmaru's expression, but he knew that his own was full of hostility and determination.

Ai doesn't expect Ranmaru to raise a contraption to his ear, seemingly talking to someone through it. "Reiji? Yeah, I've found him."

...

"Ai-Ai!" Ai is shocked as the familiar man hugs him tightly, almost knocking the breath out of him. He releases him to look at him. "Wow, you've grown so much older!"

Ai splutters, unable to find words. He has distinct memories of this brunet from when he was younger, his sparkling gray eyes, his cheery personality. "Reiji?" His father's best friend and apparently, a human king.

His eyes well up in happy tears. "Ai-Ai remembers me! I can't believe it! We've only met once or twice after all!"

"Wait, Reiji, you  _know_ him?!" The two turn to Ranmaru who looks just as flabbergasted as Ai. Now that Ai thought about it, Ranmaru did look the littlest bit similar to his older half brother. Both had gray eyes, it was just that Ranmaru wore a contact to make one of his eyes seem violet. "When you told me to look around town for a shapeshifter with cyan hair, I didn't expect that!"

"Of course I know him!" Reiji laughs happily. "He's Aine's son after all!" Both Ai and Reiji wince at the sound of the former emperor's name, Reiji stumbling over it.

"Kisaragi?! But didn't he say his name was Mikaze?" Ranmaru exclaims, not noticing.

"That was a lie." Ai replies bluntly.

"Eh?!"

"Anyways, Ai, I heard about your situation and... Aine from your great-uncle." Reiji's voice turns somber. "You're welcome to stay here for as long as you'd like. Not all of my citizens are accepting of shapeshifters though, so you may have to stay in the palace for the most part."

Ai nods in agreement, relieved by Reiji's presence. Maybe he can actually survive this situation.

"Would you like to take him with you?" Reiji gestures to Syo, the small feline shapeshifter, who yelps at the attention and hides behind Ai. He looked a lot better with a bit of medical attention, though the bandages on his body and tail leave a bad taste in Ai's mouth. His blond hair was bright and vibrant, just like his electric blue eyes.

Ai bends down to his level. "Do you have anywhere to go?"

Syo stares innocently into his cyan eyes before shaking his head slowly, his white ears twitching.

"Do you want to stay with me then?" The child looks at Ai with sparkling eyes, attaching himself to Ai's leg. Ai stands back up again, looking at Reiji. He seems amused at the answer.

"I see. Then, welcome to the palace, Kisaragi Ai. Ranmaru, can you escort them to their rooms?"

...

Ai soon finds out that the people in the palace are much more accommodating to magical creatures than the citizens. He is able to take off his hood and be treated with the hospitality of a normal guest. It isn't hard to settle into an easy life there, to the point where Ai almost forgets that his country is at war.

He spends his days entertaining Syo's whims. He is glad for the child's presence, who filled his days with his enthusiasm instead of letting Ai brood about his situation. He watches over Syo, trying to not let him get into too much trouble and patiently teaching him how to hide his ears and tail when in his human form. Though Syo doesn't make much progress nor has the patience to sit through Ai's lessons, it at least keeps him busy.

But at night, when he can't sleep, he roams the palace gardens, watching the sky twinkling with stars and thinking of his own country's bloody civil war under the same sky. The magical population growing smaller and smaller, all of the people he had known fighting for their survival. He can't help it, beginning to think that it was a mistake for him to leave. If his country had to suffer, isn't it necessary for him to suffer along with it?

He can hear his great-uncle and Camus' voices ringing in his ears. " _It is_ necessary _for you to go, Ai!"_

Was it though? His great-uncle had suffered so much for this country, despite never being the proper monarch. He had helped his brother claim the throne when their father had died, fought for his nephew when his older brother had died, and now he was fighting for Ai after Aine's death.

Camus had been a count and Ai's childhood friend, even though he was five years older than Ai. He had sworn loyalty to Aine and now, he fought for Ai's sake.

All the while, Ai sat by and did nothing.

He sighs, bringing his knees to his chest as he sat beneath a cherry blossom tree. He rests his head on his knees, gazing at the moon.

"You're thinking about your country, aren't you?"

Ai's head shoots up in surprise and he recognizes the voice from the other side of the tree. He can't see the man, but he can picture him leaning against the tree. "Ranmaru?"

He gets a noise of confirmation in reply, waiting for his reply. Ai sighs again, raising his face to gaze at the moon as a cloud drifts over to cover it, throwing the courtyard into a dimmer lighting.

"Yes. I can't help but wonder if it was really right for me to leave."

He doesn't expect the human to say anything in reply, but he does after a brief silence. "They're fighting for you to become the emperor, aren't they, Ai?"

Ai hums softly in response.

"What would their purpose be if you died in battle, then?"

Ai lets this statement roll around in his mind. "Is it fair for me to become emperor even if I didn't fight for it myself?" He whispers.

"You are fighting. You are fighting so that their plan will succeed. If you weren't fighting alongside them, you would have given up a long time ago. I saw it when you saved Syo. You're not just fighting for your own life, but for your people's as well." The human's voice is uncharacteristically soothing and encouraging, though it still had its rough edge. Before Ai can reply, he hears Ranmaru's footsteps as he leaves the courtyard.

Ai looks up as moonlight illuminates the courtyard again as the cloud passes.

...

Ai doesn't realize how much time he has spent around Ranmaru lately until Syo whines that Ai isn't playing with him as often anymore. He can't help it; he found a certain comfort in the human prince despite his always annoyed attitude. The child practically throws a fit, Ai watching him helplessly. Despite the fact that he has been with Syo for a month now, he still can't figure out to calm him from his tantrums. He attempts to based on books that he has read and situations he has seen but none of them can quell the young shapeshifter.

He is wondering if sneaking him some sweets from the kitchen is a good idea when the cause of his predicament pokes his head in, irate from lack of sleep. "What the hell is happening here?" He rubs his eyes, his violet contact not even in. "Oi, chibi, be quiet."

"Ranmaru!" Ai exclaims in exasperation.

But it seems to have worked as Syo sits up, cerulean eyes, bloodshot from crying, glaring at him and a pout set on his face. "Make me. You're the one taking Ai away from me anyways!"

Ranmaru rolls his eyes, responding with annoyance, "I'm sure Ai doesn't mind. Why do you?"

Syo blows up his cheeks. He seems to be trying to be intimidating, but Ai is pretty sure that face is what cute is defined as. "Ai was mine first!"

"I'm pretty sure I met him before you."

Ai stares in mild disbelief. Ranmaru must be pretty tired to be arguing with a  _five_ year old.

"He likes me better!"

"I beg to differ." The human prince glances at him, his smirk knowing and mischievous, his gray eyes suggestive.

Ai nearly chokes on air, unable to help the heat that rushes to his face.

...

Ai's content with his new life doesn't last long though. Just about six months into his stay, Reiji calls him into the throne room. He was with Ranmaru at the time, and the messenger's fierce blush was enough to tell Reiji of what he had interrupted. But Reiji can't bring himself to feel amused.

Ai walks in nonchalantly, politely kneeling in front of the throne. "Was there something you needed, Reiji?"

Reiji closes his eyes, inhaling deeply. When he exhales, he looks the Prince of Magica - the  _former_ Prince of Magica - in the eye, his gaze unwavering and unreadable. He forces himself to be the one to tell the news. "Ai."

Ai startles at the fact that Reiji has discarded the nickname. "W-what is it?"

"Magica has fallen."

...

 _Magica has fallen._ The words dance numbly in Ai's mind as he walks through the halls of the palace.

_Magica has fallen._

Reiji had explained the situation to him. The civil war had begun to wear all of the citizens down, making the country seem vulnerable to nearby countries or hunters seeking the goods and services that could be produced with the country's magical inhabitants. Secretly, the neighboring human countries, who had originally agreed to a peace treaty, attacked, annexing the small nation and massacring the citizens. Ai's great-uncle had been publicly executed at the Magica palace itself as soon as the one-sided struggle was over.

"Hey, Ai!" He hears Ranmaru call to him and watches blankly as the silver-haired man approaches him, the grin on his face disappearing at the sight of him. "Hey, you alright?" He reaches out a hand to touch Ai's shoulder.

Ai shoves him away the moment he feels contact. Ranmaru is shocked when his lover looks up, his eyes burning lilac. "Don't touch me, you filthy human!"

"A-Ai?" Ranmaru can't help but feel hurt and angered at those words. He has no idea of what was going on. Ai was fine just a while ago. "Hey, Ai!" He approaches him again, more cautiously.

Ai backs away from him immediately, screaming in frenzy, the sound morphing into more of a bird's scream. He is unable to control his state and Ranmaru watching in shock as he shifts, his body morphing into that of a large lilac bird, his feet into claws, his arms into wings. His eyes turn darker, becoming a deep shade of emerald green. His hair fades to feathers of a even lighter shade than his body and as he flaps his wings to levitate into the air, Ranmaru makes note of seven distinct long tails that protrude from the avian creature.

The bird screams, the sound piercing Ranmaru's ears. He watches as the lilac phoenix that Ai has become flies away into the sunset.

...

Havoc is immediate. In Ai's rage, he had resorted to blindly attacking the townspeople. Deep purple flames spread around the town and soon, the capital city is on fire.

Reiji gives quick orders to subdue Ai, by force or not. It pains him to see his best friend's son like this or raise a hand against him, but he has no alternative choice.

Ranmaru takes to quickly evacuating the people as his older brother gathers the royal soldiers to attack the avian shapeshifter. Though he screams at the people to hurry, his heart is not in his job. His brother had ordered him away from Ai, afraid that Ai would attack Ranmaru in his rage. Ranmaru was the closest human to Ai and though Ai was nowhere near as prejudiced against humans as most of his people were, the betrayal humans had committed against him was unacceptable, and Reiji feared that he would attack Ranmaru for this betrayal.

Ranmaru had struggled desperately, raising his voice against his elder brother. Because he was the person closest to Ai, he should be the one to go to him! But he couldn't fight against the serious and weary look in his brother's eyes.

As the last of the citizens leave the city, Ranmaru feels a tug on his pants. He glances down, shocked at Syo staring up at him, his white ears twitching, blue eyes determined. "What are you doing here, Syo?! You have to go! Ai isn't in his right mind now! He could kill you!"

Syo refuses to back down. "If I have to go, you do too."

"I... can't." Ranmaru bites down on his lower lip, raising his gaze to the phoenix hovering above the city, screaming in pain as the royal soldier's bullets and arrows are shot at him. He clenches his fists tightly.

"Save Ai." Ranmaru returns his gaze to the child. "Save Ai." Syo repeats. "You're the only one who can do it."

 _I'm listening to a five year old._ Ranmaru would have thought of himself as ridiculous in any other situation but he allows Syo's words to motivate him, running towards the direction of the phoenix.

Syo smiles as he watches him go before shifting back into a kitten as he bounds out of the way of the amethyst flames to the exit of the city.

...

"What are you doing here?!" Reiji screams at him as he makes his appearance at the battle site, narrowly dodging a fireball that singes the edge of his silver hair. "Ranmaru, go! You'll be killed!"

Ranmaru ignores his brother, dropping his sword and looking up at Ai. The phoenix seems to have noticed his presence as well and squawks in fury, aiming his purple burst of fire mostly in Ranmaru's direction.

Ranmaru doesn't have to dodge them though. None of the fireballs are aimed directly at Ranmaru, but rather at the area around him. If he can't bring himself to actually hurt Ranmaru, Ai must still be conscious of his emotions... right?

"Ai! Can you hear me?!" He shouts at the phoenix. Ai screams in reply, sending another fireball that lands right in front of Ranmaru.

Ranmaru continues. "You're an idiot, y'know?! Lashing out at the whole entire town like this! You know it's wrong! And you'll definitely regret it later!"

The phoenix screams again, and he can hear Ai's voice through it. " _Humans are liars! They're murderers, monsters!_ "

"Weren't you the one who told those children that bullied Syo that not all shapeshifters are monsters?! How can you generalize even innocent humans now as that, too?!"

Ai doesn't seem to hear his reasoning. " _I can't believe in anything they do! They always just use us magical creatures in the end!_ "

Ranmaru is beginning to feel annoyed. "Yeah?! Then if you really think that, why don't I let you use a human for once?! Kill me, if that eases your rage."

Reiji screams his name and Ai pauses to stare down at him with those sharp emerald eyes.

Ranmaru walks forwards, his steps unwavering. "You heard me!" He shouts aggressively. "Or are you a coward, Ai?!"

Ai cries out in fury and in an instant, he's in front of the human prince, his claw stretched out to attack.

Ranmaru does not defend himself, simply waiting for the claw to make contact, to feel the physical pain rip through his body. Before it does, he can hear Ai's voice whisper. " _Why would you do this for me?_ "

He screams his answer. Three simple words.

The claw never reaches his chest.

...

"Hey, Ai, you awake?" Ai averts his gaze from out the window at the rebuilding town to the silver-haired prince that enters his room. He tries to sit up immediately.

"Whoa, there." Ranmaru moves quickly to help him. "Are you alright?" He gazes at the bandages that are wrapped tightly around his arms.

"I... should be asking you that." Ai searches Ranmaru's face for any sign of disgust or fear for being around him. He finds nothing but fondness. "I... I'm sorry."

"You should be." Ai blinks at Ranmaru's bluntness. "You could've killed off an entire city and the royal family. What would happen to this country?"

"I-I..." Guilt and shame overwhelm Ai.

"But." He can hear the change in tone of Ranmaru's voice, becoming more understanding. "I understand why you did it. You must have been in a lot of pain. Next time, you can talk to me about it, alright? I'll help you. That's what I'm here for, alright? Don't try to go on killing sprees." He looks up, seeing the slight blush spread across his lover's face. Though he keeps it short, Ai can hear the sincerity in his uncharacteristic words. "And no one was killed. I guess you could say 'all's well that ends well,' right?"

Ai tries not to laugh at Ranmaru's hasty attempt to direct his attention away from his caring words. Ranmaru, seeing this, leans in to shut him up.

Ai smiles against his lips as they share a chaste kiss in the infirmary. Humans were strange. But he guessed that it was "all's well that ends well," after all.


End file.
